Date: April 19th 2010

AMSAT NEWS SERVICE ANS-108

ANS is a free, weekly, news and information service of AMSAT North America, The Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation ANS reports on the activities of a worldwide group of Amateur Radio operators who share an active interest in designing, building, launching and communicating through analog and digital Amateur Radio satellites

Please send any amateur satellite news or reports to:

ans-editor@amsat org

The AMSAT team is preparing for the 2010 Dayton Hamvention AMSAT *
Booth and activities For the latest information go to: *
http://www amsat org/amsat-new/hamvention/2010/Dayton php *

In this edition: * BOD Nominations Due * AO-51 New PL Operation Being Tested * Deadline Extension To Reserve Rooms in AMSAT Block At Dayton * Matching Funds Opportunity * SO-67 Operation Expected to Resume Soon * Dayton Happenings * Satellite Shorts From All Over * Arecibo on 432 MHz Moon Bounce (still time today) * ARISS Status - 12 April 2010

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-108 01 BOD Nominations Due

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 108 01 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD April 18, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-108 01

It is time to submit nominations for the upcoming open seats on the AMSAT--NA Board of Directors A nomination requires either one Member Society or five current individual members to nominate an AMSAT member for the position Three director's terms expire this year:
Tom Clark, K3IO, Lou McFadin, W5DID and Gould Smith, WA4SXM
Nominations must be in writing and mailed to:
AMSAT, 850 Sligo Ave #600, Silver Spring MD 20910
They can arrive no later than June 15th

[ANS Thanks Martha for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-108 02 AO-51 New PL Operation Being Tested

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 108 02 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD April 18, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-108 02

AO-51 67Hz Access Tone Experiment in Progress

The AO-51 Control Team has enabled the new PL routine This improved routine will turn the downlink on with an unsquelched uplink when it hears a 67 Hz tone At present there is a tail of several minutes so the transmitter will stay on without hearing the tone

AO-51 users are urged to program in a 67 Hz PL tone again, but this is not absolutely required as long as someone else in the footprint has already enabled the satellite with the tone It also means if you are the first person in the footprint (not very likely in North America, Europe, or Japan) you might not hear the satellite until after it hears 67 Hz for a few seconds

Mark, N8MH commented on the new operating mode, "The transmitter shuts off (for about a second, maybe less) after 2 minutes, even if people are talking with a 67Hz tone So, a new 120 second period will not start until the current one ends "

Andre, ZS2BK observed, "On a south to north pass into ZS, the bird was off and was switched on with the tone It stayed on for 120 seconds It goes off momentarily as a tone equipped station is transmitting "

The latest AO-51 Control Team news can be viewed on-line at: http://www amsat org/amsat-new/echo/CTNews php

[ANS thanks the AO-51 Control Team for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-108 03 Deadline Extension To Reserve Rooms in AMSAT Block At Dayton

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 108 03 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD April 18, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-108 03

Again, a friendly reminder that the cutoff date for the AMSAT block of rooms in Dayton has been extended until April 20th If you are planning to stay with us, please call me at 301-589-6062 to make your reservation
I will need a credit card number to hold the room

[ANS thanks Martha for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-108 04 Matching Funds Opportunity

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 108 04 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD April 18, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-108 04

Matching Funds Opportunity

The Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) will match one-for-one any donations made to AMSAT between now and June 30, 2010 up to a maximum of $5,000 You can make your donation count even more
Now is the time to accept the DARA challenge Please support "Getting AMSAT Back into Space" and help us raise the funds needed for our next satellite project

AMSAT's Project "Fox" is a cubesat that will provide a 2 meter-70 Centimeter FM transponder that will match the ground performance of AO-51 You can send your donation to: AMSAT, 850 Sligo Ave #600, Silver Spring MD 20910 If you prefer, you can call Martha at the AMSAT office (US call toll free at 888-322-6728 or 301-589-6062) and contribute with a credit card

[ANS thanks Martha for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-108 05 SO-67 Operation Expected to Resume Soon

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 108 05 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD April 18, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-108 05

SO-67 Operation Expected to Resume Soon

The SA AMSAT web page at http://www amsatsa org za/ says, "Amateur Radio operation is expected to return soon Keep an eye on the SA- AMSAT web page All requests for SO67 operation will be handled by SA AMSAT and schedules will be published on http://www amsatsa org za Details on how to apply for operation in your area will be announced soon "

This month saw the transfer of the control of the satellite from Sun- space to the CSIRÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â’s Satellite Application Centre at Hartebeeshoek Sunspace will continue working on the commission of some of the ex- perimental payload which include the NMMU string experiment, the DOC communication experiment and the VLF experiment from UKZN

Although a hugely successful mission thus far, the past six months have been challenging for Engineers at Sunspace and unfortunately not without incident

ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â“We suffered a permanent loss of the Z-axis reaction wheel early on during commissioningÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â” Jan-Albert Koekemoer commissioning engineer at Sunspace said We adapted the Attitude Determination and Control Sys- tem (ADCS) algorithms so as to still allow for controlled imaging with the remaining two wheels - Yaw-control was then slightly impeded and the off-Nadir Roll angle limited to ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â±20ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â° ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â”

ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â”Due to a power system anomaly, we have also lost access to one of the two CCD control boards Each control board interfaces to one three- colour CCD The board we lost contains the Green, Xantrophyl and Blue spectral bands The remaining board contains the Red, Red-Edge and Near- Infrared bands ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â”

ÃƒÂ‚Ã‚Â”We recently also lost the Y-axis reaction wheel (most likely also due to a power distribution failure), this meant the loss of three-axis control, but amazingly we can still take high-resolution images as before " An image captured by SUMBANDILASAT can be seen at: http://www amsatsa org za/

[ANS thanks SA AMSAT for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-108 06 Dayton Happenings

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 108 06 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD April 18, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-108 06

AMSAT/TAPR Banquet Dr Bob McGwier will be the speaker at the 2010 AMSAT/TAPR Banquet Bob has been a very active volunteer in both organizations for many years and always delivers an enteraining and informative presentation
Reserved tickets may be ordered via the AMSAT Web site store or by calling Martha at the AMSAT office (301) 589-6062

======================================================================== AMSAT Forum at Dayton The 2010 AMSAT Forum at the Dayton Hamvention will be on:

Saturday, May 15 from 11:15 am to 1:30 pm in Forum Room 5

Alan Biddle, WA4SCA will moderate the Forum

Speakers

Barry Baines, WD4ASW, AMSAT President, "AMSAT Status Report" What is happening within AMSAT? AMSAT President Barry Baines will highlight current activities within AMSAT and discuss some of the challenges facing the organization

Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, AMSAT VP Operations,"AMSAT Satellite Operations and International Satellite Operations" Drew, AMSAT VP of Operations, will discuss operational AMSAT satellites as well as update us on new and future International Satellites

Mike Forsythe, AC2V, "Integrating Satellite Operations into DXpeditions" Mike, K4T Team Leader will present the K4T DXpedition and how to have satellite operations as a major part of DXpeditions, involving youth and making it all work on green power!

Gould Smith, WA4SXM,AMSAT VP User Services, "Getting ARISSat-1 Ready to Fly" Gould is the AMSAT Project Manager for ARISSat-1 and will talk about the current status of the satellite project, testing and the delivery of two satellites to Russia in July

Alex Harvilchuck, N3NP, "NextGen CubeSat Program Update" Alex, a Systems Engineer with IBM, is the NextGen CubeSat Program Manager and will be providing an update on the Program A team of Binghamton University engineering students have been modifying the power systems from ARISSat-1 for use in a 3U CubeSat, with a U/V linear transponder, for AMSAT

[ANS Thanks, Gould, WA4SXM, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-108 07 Satellite Shorts From All Over

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 108 07 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD April 18, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-108 07

Satellite Shorts From All Over

K4T DXpedition video of the recent DXpedition to Dry Tortugas was unique in being entirely wind powered and having two amateur radio satellite stations They have posted a video at: http://www youtube com/watch?v=ifoDk36CaWA
Gavin, M1BXF reports the Camb-hams, the social side of the Cambridge Repeater Group (ex Pye telecoms group) will be active on FM and SSB satellites as GS3PYE/P from grid IO67nt on the Island of Harris, Scotland between May 1st and May 15th More information can found on their DXpedition webpage: http://dx camb-hams com/dx-peditions/harris-dxpedition-10/
The 2010 CubeSat Developers' Workshop takes place this week at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo between April 21-23 A link to the webcast of workshop forums has been posted at: http://www cubesat org/index php/workshops/upcoming-workshops
The Mexican Federal Telecommunications Commission ("CoFeTel"), Mexico's "FCC", announced today that hams in Mexico have been authorized the use of the 4B prefix for 2010, to commemorate both the 200th anniversary of Mexican independence and the 100th anniversary of the Mexican Revolution With this in mind, maybe we will hear some of our Mexican friends using this prefix on the satellites throughout the rest of 2010
The Houston AMSAT Net simulcasts via an Icecast streaming server at this link: radio arert net:8000/amsat m3u This net meets on Tuesday 8PM Central Time (Wednesday 0100 UTC) The audio is also available on Echolink in the AMSAT conference

[ANS thanks everyone for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-108 08 Arecibo on 432 MHz Moon Bounce (still Time Today)

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 108 08 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD April 18, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-108 08

The Arecibo Observatory Amateur Radio Club will be putting the 1000-foot radio telescope on the air for 432 MHz EME from April 16-18

It can be heard with a small hand-held yagi pointed at the moon The scheduled times of operation are:

April 18: 1840 - 2125 UTC(Today)

Callsign: KP4AO

Tx Frequency: 432 045 MHz

Rx Frequency: 432 050 to 432 060+

Tx power: 400 W

Antenna gain: 60 dBi

System noise temp: 120 K (cold sky)

System noise temp: 330 K (when pointed at moon)

KP4AO can be heard with a small hand-held yagi pointed at the moon and a good receiver A 15 dBi antenna and 100 W will be enough to work us on CW

Operators at KP4AO will do their best to work as many stations as possible Each session will start with a brief announcement and CQ in SSB SSB QSOs may continue for 30 minutes to an hour, if the QSO rate remains high

The mode will be shifted to CW as soon as it is judged that higher QSO rates would result

We will listen for calls at frequencies 5-15 kHz higher than our own, and even higher if QRM warrants Callers who s-p-r-e-a-d o-u-t are more likely to be copied

If you've already worked us in any mode, please do not call again -- give others a chance

If we call "CQ QRP", we will listen for stations running 100 W or less to a single yagi Please do not answer such a CQ if you are running more power or have a larger antenna

On April 18, if we reach a condition where most calling stations have been worked, and we judge that operating in the digital mode JT65B would produce a higher QSO rate, we will switch to JT65B

Note that any of these planned operating strategies may be changed as circumstances dictate

We are extremely fortunate to have been granted access to the world's largest radio telescope for this amateur radio good-will event We look forward to working as many stations as possible in the alloted time!

[ANS thanks John, KB1MGI, for the above information]

/EX

SB SAT @ AMSAT $ANS-108 09 ARISS Status - 12 April 2010

AMSAT News Service Bulletin 108 09 From AMSAT HQ SILVER SPRING, MD April 12, 2010 To All RADIO AMATEURS BID: $ANS-108 09

Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) Status Report April 12, 2010

Upcoming School Contact

An Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact has been scheduled for Jessup Elementary School in Houston, Texas on Monday, April 19 at 18:43 UTC This will be a telebridge connection through ground station WH6PN in Hawaii The school has incorporated the ARISS activity into its curriculum, specifically focusing on science, math, and language arts instruction across the pre-kindergarten to fourth grade levels

Astronaut Timothy Creamer Speaks with Italian Students via ARISS

On Tuesday, April 6, on-orbit astronaut Timothy Creamer, KC5WKI participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with students from Scuola Primaria De Gasperi in Bari, Italy The contact was held at the Cittadella Mediterranea della Scienza, which was designed to stimulate interest of the general public and especially youth, in fields of science and technology To prepare for the contact, students studied principles of radio communications and space missions and were given a presentation on ARISS by ARISS mentor Francesco De Paolis, IK0WGF The event drew an audience of more than 100 students, teachers and guests as well as members of the media The contact audio and video were distributed throughout Europe and America by webcast, receiving 500 connections

ISS Ham Debrief Held with Astronaut Jeff Williams

Expedition 21/22 astronaut Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ participated in an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) debrief session on Friday, April 9
The feedback he provided on the ISS Ham radio equipment and school contacts will help the ARISS team improve program operations

ARISSat Presentation to be Given at Dayton Hamvention

Dayton Hamvention 2010 will be held at the Hara Arena Complex in Dayton, Ohio on May 14 - 16 The American Radio Relay League (ARRL) and the Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation (AMSAT) will both man exhibit booths at the event Gould Smith, WA4SXM, AMSAT Project Manager for ARISSat-1, plans to give a presentation at

the AMSAT Forum titled, "Getting ARISSat-1 Ready to Fly " The Dayton Hamvention is an internationally attended amateur radio convention that draws crowds of 25,000 annually For more information on Dayton Hamvention 2010, go to: http://www hamvention org/

Four Women in Space Hold Amateur Radio Licenses

Shuttle STS-131 launched on April 5, carrying three women into space: Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, KE5DAT, Stephanie Wilson, KD5DZE and JAXA astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, KE5DAS Upon docking with the ISS, they joined Expedition 23 crew member Tracy Caldwell-Dyson, KF5DBF This was the first time that four women have been in space, and all are licensed hams Caldwell-Dyson will participate in her first Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact with Jessup Elementary School in Houston on April 19 Let's hope they like to make random contacts to give the Amateur Community some excitement

[ANS thanks Carol, KB3LKI, for the above information]

/EX

73, This week's ANS Editor, Dee Interdonato, NB2F nb2f at amsat dot org

Via the ANS mailing list courtesy of AMSAT-NA http://amsat org/mailman/listinfo/ans

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